Water drip for gas wells



July 1, 1930. I c, COREY 1,768,889

- WATER DRIP FOR GAS WELLS Filed June 24, 1929 INVENTOR.

Gland/7460i? ATTO EYS.

Patented July 1, 1930 ENT or-Flor:

oLAun M. COREY, or BELTON, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR or ONEHALF TO J. nfaunn, or

MARTIN CITY, MISSOURI warns nnrr ron ens wELLs Application fi led' June 24,

This invention relates to water drips for gas wells, and my object isto produce efficient and economical apparatus adjustable to accommodate wells of any pressure and of such construction that it can be disposed within any gas well casing and at a depth below the frost line to avoid any possibility of the water freezing and interfering with or arresting the operation of the well, and the necessity, incidental to freezing, of melting the ice, and sometimes of replacing, usuallyv Vat appreciable expense, parts injured: by

freezing or by heating in the melting operation. 1

There are appliances now in use which function satisfactorily at temperatures, above the freezing point, but every such apparatus of which I have knowledge, is and must be of such relatively large size to operate properly, that it is not practicable to dispose it within the well casing and hence sufliciently below the frost line to protect it in freezing weather.

With the object therefore, of producing simple and inexpensive apparatus of such relatively small and compact construction as to be capable of disposition in a well casing and which will operate regardless of temperature conditions, the invention consists in certain novel and useful features of con struction and combinations of parts as here: inafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully'understood, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in

' which Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical sec- 'tion of a gas well equipped with a water drip Referring to the drawing in detail, 1 indicates the casing of a gas well and 2 the gas pipe thereof, such pipe being preferably formed with a downturned end 3 extending into a water drip cylinder 4 disposed at a suitable depth within the well casing, and supported in any suitable manner, not shown, said cylinder being provided witha depend- 1'929. Serial No. ra /3,439.

ing drainpipeo through which watermay pass back into the, well, andwith an outlet or'service gas pipe 6, the latter, leading from the upper end of the cylinder at a point pref erably above the, plane of communication with the latter of the gas pipe 2.

The cylinder is preferably closed atits lower end by a threadedcap. 7, and resting on the cap and engaging the upper end of drain pipe 5, is a valve casing 8. The valve casing hasa valve-seat opening 9 in its side, and opposite said opening is a removable pluglO havinga centralhorizontally ex tending guide pocket 11.

1 A valve 12 for engagement with the, valve seat to close opening9, is arranged within the valve casing and has a stem 13 engaging the pocket 11, The valve also has an ex tension arm 14 projecting through the opening ,9 and pivoted at 15 to alever 16 fulcrumed at its lower end at 17- on lugs 18 projecting from the casing. The lever extends upwardly within the cylinder and is pro- .vided 'at its upper end with alongitudinal series of openings 19, any one of which is adapted tobeengaged by a pivot pin20 for pivotally connecting the lever, throughthe medium of a link 21, to one of a longitudinal series of openings 22 in the depending; arm of abell crank lever 23 fulcrumed at 24 upon andbetween the uppervends of a pair of arms 25, bolted or otherwise rigidly secured as at 26, to the valve casing, The other arm ,of the hell crank lever, extends approximately horizontally and is also provided with a longitudinal series of openings 27, any one of which is adapted to be engaged by a.. ,pivot 28 for jpivotally connecting the bell crank lever to the lower end of arod 29 weight of,which is 0rd inarily sufficient to holdlthe valve closed. l

Water entering the cylinder with the gas, accumulates and, eventually will raise the float; l Vhen this occurs, the valve is unseated and water flows from the cylinder into the valve casingthrough 0pe11ing9, and;v drains back into the well through the pipe 5. As this action occurs the floatdescends and eventually, by gravity, will reseat the valve and shut off the escape of the water. In the event however, the pressure of gas in the cylinder above the water level becomes excessive, it will cause the water to press upon and unseat the valve to permit Water to escape as explained, gas also escaping with the water until the normal pressure is restored, when the weight of the float will reseat the valve. It will be apparent that by adjustment of the link with respect to the depending arm of the bell crank lever and the lever 16, the valve can be set to accommodate the particular pressure of gas of the well, that isto say the adjustment can be made to accommodate the valve to high or low pressure wells. It will likewise be obvious that by adjustment of rod 29 relative to the upper arm'of the bell crank lever, the same result can be accomplished, and that by making both adjustments the valve can be set to accommodate the extremes of high and low pressureinwells. It will thus be apparent that the apparatus, under proper adjustments, can be utilized in any field, regardless of the pressure of gas in the wells thereof. 7

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced a water drip mechanism which is entirely automatic and dependable in operation regardless of weather conditions, and whichcan be adjusted to accommodate the pressure of any gas well, and it is to be understood that the structure may be modified in various ways without departing from the principle of construction and mode of operation involved or from the scope of the appended claims,

I claim:

1. A water drip for gas wells comprising a closed cylinder, having an intake and a discharge for gas at the top, a valve casing at the bottom of the cylinder provided with a 7 water drain pipe and a valve-seat opening, a

a valve within the casing, an upright lever fulcrumed at a fixed point relative to said casing and pivotally connected to the valve, 'an inverted bell crank lever within the cylinder and fulcrumed in a plane above the valve casing, with one arm extending downwardly from the fulcrum point, a link pivotally connectig the said arm with said lever, a float in the cylinder above the bell crank lever, and pivotally connected to the other arm thereof and adapted by its weight to normally hold the valve seated, and under suflioient accumulation of water in the cylinder, to move upward and effect the opening of the valve.

2. The combination with a gas-well casing havin'g'a gas discharge pipe, of a cylinder dispose vertically within the casing and communicating with the discharge end of the-said pipe, a gas discharge pipe communicating with the cylinder above the plane of communication of the latter with the gas'well pipe, a valve casing Within the cylinder, having a communicating water drainpipe for discharge into the well casing, an arm projecting upward from the valve casing, a valve normally closing communication between the valve casing and the cylinder, an upwardly projecting lever pivotally connected to the valve and suitably fulcrumed below its connection with the valve, a bell crank lever mounted on the said arm and having one arm extending downwardly from its fulcrum point, a link' adjustable on and connecting said arm of the bell crank lever and the firstnamed lever, a float in the casing above the bell crank lever, and a link depending from the float and adjustably connected on the other arm of the bell crank lever.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

' CLAUD M. COREY. 

